Who Reads What? Some Interesting Stats

Being that author person, the one who always wants to know what's on the other side of my mirror or window or door (choose whichever metaphor you like), I seek out articles on readership, who's looking at what. Does anybody actually read anymore? This question posed by someone who obviously doesn't. *sigh* Yes, it is sad. I feel badly for those who think that way, for all they are missing...but let's move on. The Article. I stumbled upon one published a couple years ago, (see link below) that focused on Nielsen ratings regarding mystery/crime readers. That is my niche, so if you aren't into reading mystery, don't write mystery, you may want to move along. :-) 

Nielsen colleagues dove into the task to gather stats, asking questions... How do you acquire your reading material? What type of mysteries do you prefer? Where do you discover new authors? Interesting results given in a beautifully illustrative graph (again, see link below) show a couple of important facts--at least for me as an author of mystery. One, over 60 percent of readers are ages 45 and up with 28 percent being 65 and older. Makes me think about my story details like how old should my characters be? Does it make a difference if I use modern slang or references to modern culture that the older crowd may not understand? I'm thinking not. After all, I'm of a certain age, and those things don't bother me. Another fact finding detail: 70 percent of those readers polled were female. 

Here's the real gut-puncher, though: many frequent readers aren't buying books. They get them free. Probably waiting for those deals on Amazon or participating in book swaps where you trade in your book and get another in return. Oh, and of course, let's not forget libraries. I'll admit, I get the budget urge to find bargains, freebies, and such. Confession: I don't use the library as much as I used to because I can't seem to finish a book in time before I have to return it, or I'm on a long, infinitely long waiting list. Also, it didn't surprise me to find that 69 percent of heavy buyers are expert readers. Reading does that to a person. Frequent reading = expert reader. 

The concern stated by the author of the article is that if the mystery audience is the older crowd, what happens when they, well, are gone? As he puts it, the genre will need some new victims. Yes, I can see that. However, what's to say that the younger crowd, when older, won't turn to mystery? I've certainly gone through my stages. For ten years or more, it was horror/suspense with King, Koontz, and Saul at the top of my list. When I was in my early twenties, it was romantic suspense with such classic greats as Mary Stewart and Victoria Holt. Yeah, I was certainly a romantic. Then, for the past twenty years I've pretty much stuck to mysteries of all sorts -- gritty crime, psychological thrillers, legal thrillers and of course, cozies for my "be amused and laugh and get all warm and fuzzy" moods. Authors like Patterson, Cornwell, Johansen, and Brown on the more serious side. Evanovich and Joanne Fluke, to name a couple, on the lighter side. 

So, what's an author to do if he/she wants to grow a younger audience? One suggestion is Wattpad. Yes, I said Wattpad. Authors like the one mentioned in this article ( Elizabeth Spann Craig) tried it out and gained lots of readers. Caution: readers, not necessarily buyers. It's an interesting social media forum where you can upload chapters of your work and readers will flock and send you all kinds of nice comments, questions, etc. With luck, the trolls will stay far away. Below, I've placed another link to tips on using Wattpad, for those who'd care to check it out. 

As for me, I'll trudge along, cranking out story ideas, writing those mysteries, hoping people will notice, enjoy, and read more. As you might know, often, it's not how great your book is. It's getting noticed. If you're not, then who will ever discover how fantastic a writer you are? (Says any author who doesn't find their work rise in the Amazon rankings!) 

Cheers all. Happy reading and writing!


Who is Reading Mysteries?

Learning about Wattpad

It's a Con's Life

When digging into any new project, I make a well-intended effort to do some research. I research the general topic of the story. I research things I may want my MC to have -- skills, lifestyle, mannerisms, etc. I research setting info, historical references, plausible murder scenarios, and oh, the list goes on. Yes, I do make a well-intended effort ... at driving myself crazy! It's a writer thing, after all. 

So. Here it is, the kind of weirdness my over-stimulated, over-imaginative brain comes up with late at night when I should be getting sleep. I want to write about cons. Yes. A murder mystery/suspenseful thriller/slightly comedic/insane novel series about con artists. Don't judge me. The idea has merit. AND it just so happens to be very trendy right now. (Insert evidence: Evanovich/Goldberg -- The Heist; Ally Carter -- Heist Society; TV series -- The Catch ... just to name a few). Besides, I enjoy writing such fun stuff. Humor is my thing, which I must indulge on occasion. 

Anyway, back to research. I found lots online about con artists, con jobs, heists, famous cons, names for schemes, tips to run a con, and even how to figure out if your significant other is a con in disguise. Okay, scratch "in disguise". It's redundant because ALL con artists are in disguise. It's what they do. They lie, but they convince you they are telling you nothing but the truth. They always say the right thing, romance you, please you.They are the original Smooth Operators. (Sade song reference fits well here.) So what if they are notorious liars and thieves? They do have a code of con ethics. Yep. You heard me. Cons have ethics. Well, not in the normal sense you and I have ethics, but the rules exist. Like, never con an honest person. Or, never keep secrets from your con family. I find it hard to believe that last one. I mean, they lie. Right?

Oh, and cons have their own how-to book. For instance, when focusing on a mark (that's the victim, in case you don't know con jargon) you should look for his/her weakness. It could be greed, loneliness, insecurity, and other traits easy to manipulate. You need to know everything about your mark. Their habits, likes, dislikes, family, job, even which side of the bed they sleep on, if it helps you pull off the con. Everything. Things as simple as how you should always control the conversation, all while making your mark think HE controls the conversation. Geesh. 

But wait. I'm not finished. I found a long and exhaustive list of the types of cons used. Yes. They have names. Like Badger Game where the mark is put in a compromising position, then the con takes pictures and blackmails the mark. Or Salting the Mine when a con plants valuable gems in the mine to convince the mark it's worth the investment. There is Mellon Drop, and Pigeon Drop, and Three Card Monte. So many to choose from! Does your head hurt yet? Mine does. I'm sure you've all heard of Cat Phishing. It's been in the news a lot. Where someone friends you on the internet, pretending to be someone he/she is not, getting you to fall in love, and probably ready to scam you for money. "Oh yes. I want to come to America and be with you, but I don't have the money. My family is poor. All we have are the chickens and the goats to trade. Please send money so I can come and we can be together, my love." Of course, it's a con and the lonely people (refer to list of weaknesses above) will fall for it. 

This brings me to what I really wanted to write. Hmm. I do take the long way around, don't I? So, with my over-stimulated, over-imaginative brain running full throttle during this research, I began to wonder what if I've been conned? Or how easily I could be, given the right circumstance and a very cagey, shifty, perhaps gorgeously handsome con artist tempting me. It could happen. They say senior citizens are the prey of con schemes like insurance fraud, fake contests, home improvement scams, etc, and all ready to be cheated out of those meager social security and pension checks. Only takes a bit of naivete and a kind-hearted soul to fall for it. 

Well, let me say this lady is a little wiser after gathering all the con-wise info. I'll just give a twist to Tip Number 2 from the how-to-con manual: Do your research and learn everything about your ... con. I may be kind-hearted and older, but I'm not stupid. At least I hope not! Okay, back to learning about a con's life and "scheming" ways to write this story! Should be fun. :-)

Happy reading and writing, all! Enjoy your week. I'm off to Medina Library on Saturday the 30th for a super author expo. If you're a local, come visit with me. We'll talk mystery, murder, and stuff about cons. ;-)

Searching For Childhood Book on Secret Codes, i.e. Ways to Procrastinate in Writing

You know, I am the supreme master of procrastination. Ask anyone who knows me. It's no secret, and I don't claim that lightly. Add my dorky behavior and undying curiosity to the mix, and you get a typical day like this .... 

3:00 pm: I wanted to continue my work in progress this afternoon. That was the plan. It's a mystery and just so happens to involve a secret code. I LOVE secret codes. (Insert matching character detail -- quirky, dorky, or anything synonymous.) So, I was about to write when a thought came to me. I remember I had a book as a kid called Codes & Secret Writing (see photo). I bought it through our class Scholastic book program. Oh, how I loved those fliers! Full of wonderful books, I wanted to buy them all. My parents had other ideas. Anyway, I thought about that book. It was such a fun book. I'd spend hours using those codes to write secret messages. (Yes, I know. Dork.) I decided about then to go look for that book. I saved ALL my books, much to my hubby's disappointment. I even have a rather large collection of Nancy Drew Mysteries, if you ever stop by and want to take a look. 

Now, where was I? Yes, finding that code book. I searched my toy chest (kept that, too) and found lots of goodies, including a Chatty Cathy, Tiny Tears, and Barbie along with her friends and family. That took me about an hour, ooing and ahing over all of them. But no book. 

4:00 pm: I never was one to give up, however I ran out of hiding places for the moment. So,  it was on to the internet, a true cornucopia of information. Several minutes later and ta da! There it was. The cover image had been carved, burned, etched into my brain. How could I ever forget? That beautiful cover, belonging to my my childhood memory, and I found it on a vintage book website. Easy peasy!

Of course, after all that I needed to process my thoughts, and I came up with this perhaps obvious takeaway -- Childhood can be a wonderful thing, and evidently memories over a lifetime may trigger an idea or two, which may become a part of a writer's story. It has for mine. I'd like to think my stories are made of all the details of my life experience. Each and every day, from small ones to big ones, those moments are connected, linked like DNA to form my imagination. Yeah, underneath it all, sometimes in a small way or even big, it's where I believe the story starts, with my building blocks of memories.

5:00 pm: Oh, and one more thing ... after all the reminiscing and searching? I decided to write this post. Ugh. Procrastination. Now, if I can just stay away from Facebook, Twitter, and all things cyber-like, maybe I could finish that chapter ;-)

Happy writing and reading, all!

Weekly Deets - 9.14.15

Scary is ... well ... scary. This time of year we think about scary. The scary movies are starting to flood our media, of course because of the Halloween season. So are scary stories. Stephen King and Dean Koontz have been my favorite authors of the horror genre. Or at least when I used to read horror genre. I think I had my fill somewhere back in the nineties. After years of feeding on the fright, the gore, and the eye-popping, heart-pounding moments I decided my health couldn't take it any longer. Seriously though, I just wanted to move along to reading my new fave genre, mysteries. Of course, some of those have gore and fright, too. I do love an evil-minded psychotic killer and the gruesome forensic evidence he leaves behind. Think Criminal Minds.

So, what is it about scary? According to an article I found: "Department head Magne Arve Flaten says that fear comes from the part of our brain that is specialized to express terror.

'Our fear centre sits in an area in the front of the brain near the temple and is called the amygdala. Studies that have been done on people who lack an amygdala demonstrate that they do not exhibit fear,' he says." ( Fear Reaction )

The article also states that our fear is immediate. Like in one eye blink, folks, we react in about a tenth of a second. No wonder we nearly jump out of our seats when someone sneaks up on us, or when we read about or watch that goon hiding behind the door who pops out to surprise the unsuspecting victim in the movie or novel. I'm shivering just picturing the shower scene in Psycho (Hitchcock's original). Surprising or not, it's something lots of people thrive on. Give 'em an adrenaline rush prompted by fear and it satisfies them. Well, it does for most, present company excluded. 

In another light and much smaller scale of scary, I'm thinking of an upcoming event where I'll be reading to listeners, big group or small, it doesn't matter. That adrenaline rush is already boosting my heart rate as the date draws closer. Not from fear, but more from anxiety and nerves. Heck, maybe it's triggered from the same place, that amygdala in the front brain. Whatever or wherever, I feel it. And will always feel it, every time I go before a group of people to talk, read, sing (that's not going to happen) or stand on my head (never going to happen). They do say, though, that a bit of nerves are good when performing at any level. Keeps you on your toes and brain alert, so you do a better job. At least that's their excuse! 

Fear. It's what makes the world go round and Halloween lovers thrive! 

Favorite Scary Movie: The Haunting (1963 version only ... and because there's no blood and gore. If I count those elements then it's The Exorcist.)

Favorite Scary Novel: The Dark Half by Stephen King (one of my many favorites, actually. I think this one fits because it's about an author who has a darker half, which comes alive to commit all kinds of horrific acts. bruhaha!)

Favorite Scary Song: Tubular Bells -- theme song to The Exorcist (okay, only if you've seen the movie, then you know exactly what I'm talking about, otherwise it's really a pretty song, haunting but pretty. And I have to give my honorable mention to that heart-pumping beat in the movie Jaws.)

Anyone willing to chime in and add their scary favorites, please do in the comment section below!

Well, that's my take on scary. And here's to a week of fun and fear! Watch your back, folks!